Tinubu Condoles Ibru Family, The Guardian

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State, has condoled both The Guardian and the Ibru family, saying the death of the newspaper’s publisher, Alex Ibru is a great loss to the nation.

“The news of the death of Chief Ibru, The Guardian chairman and publisher, at 66, came to me as a shock. His loss is not just to the Ibru family but to the entire country”, he said in a release yesterday. “But the loss is especially acute to the media, where he birthed Nigeria’s entrance into the era of modern professional journalism, through The Guardian stable.”

To the Ibru family, Asiwaju Tinubu offered sincere condolences: “Please accept my very sincere sympathy over his demise,” he told the widow, Mrs. Maiden Ibru. “I pray that God, in his infinite mercy will grant you all the fortitude to bear this loss, and grant you courage and peace for the days ahead.”

Paying further tribute to Ibru’s contribution to journalism, Tinubu recalled the tribulations of the late Guardian publisher during the regime of Gen. Sani Abacha, after he resigned as that government’s Minister of Internal Affairs.

“The Guardian was shut by the military regime and he became a target of anti-democratic elements and security goons,” he recalled. “He was shot in the heat of the post-June 12 democratic struggle. But the bullets of oppression could not extinguish the fire for a just and equitable society in him.”

Asiwaju Tinubu said in Ibru’s passage, Nigeria had lost “a great mind, a sound entrepreneur, a trail blazer and an icon in the media cum business firmament.”

“That is why today,” he concluded, “I mourn with his family and other Nigerians the death of a gentleman and lover of the media and democracy. One who stood to be counted when it mattered most. One who, in his own quiet, yet determined way, supported Nigeria’s struggle to birth a new nation – and one whose name and stewardship will never be forgotten in a hurry.”